


Magnet

by Augustus



Category: Friends
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-12-21
Updated: 2003-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-12 01:23:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3338771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Augustus/pseuds/Augustus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gunther's immune to Joey's charm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Magnet

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas To: Katie :) I hope it worked - it's my first time writing Friends slash and I've not really watched the show since series six.

The thing with Joey is that he never has to ask. One dark-eyed look and a quiet, "how  _you_  doin'," and it's as though he's magnetic and the entire world is caught in his pull. Gunther's seen it happen a thousand times, right here in Central Perk, and he likes to pride himself on being immune. He only has eyes for Rachel and that's common knowledge around these parts.  
  
Sometimes, Gunther will watch Joey, just to see whether he can siphon off some of Joey's charm. He's not afraid of falling, countering any misplaced pangs of attraction with oily black coffee and a secretive glance at Rachel's thighs. Joey moves like liquid when he's hoping to score and Gunther can't help but admire the fluidity of each you-know-you-want-me glance. He practices walking as though he's made of water but, on him, it's comical and underdone. He looks nothing like Joey, anyway.  
  
Girls look at Joey even when he's not trying. Gunther studies him while he clears tables, determined to discover some minor flaw. Joey's neck arcs when he laughs and when he talks, his hands wave in the air almost as though he's communicating through movement instead of sound. His presence is louder than his voice and there are times when Gunther has to strain to make out the words Joey whispers in his latest victim's ear. Other times, he wishes he couldn't hear.  
  
It's not that Gunther's obsessed, exactly, just that Rachel's all he ever wanted in a girl. Pretty hair, smooth skin and the sort of cool, unapproachable civility that makes him think of movie stars and the girls in the ads that he sees on TV. Joey's magnetic, but Rachel is priceless: perfect and unmistakably fine. That, Gunther thinks, is what everyone else is missing. That is the difference when he stares at Joey's broad shoulders and the subtle curve of the other man's spine.  
  
And, if sometimes the dull ache at the base of his stomach twists like fire down to his groin, then that's nothing to worry about, as long as he can still picture Rachel within his mind. He grips the counter with shaking fingers as Joey leans in close and murmurs, "how  _you_ doin'," then brushes past with a smile on his lips and pure devilry in his eyes.  _Rachel_ , he reminds himself,  _RachelRachelRachel_ , and Joey's laughing at him from across the room, laughing and folding in upon himself as he wipes seeping teardrops from his eyes.  
  
Gunther sneers but he doesn't care. He knows now; he understands, and the next time he looks at Rachel, it's with sympathetic eyes.  
  
  
 ****

**~fin~  
21st December 2003**


End file.
